LIVE with Alex Mandradjiev, Cinematic Illustrator

let's get that ball rolling [Music] [Music] all right for some reason I have to kill that facebook's screen but we should be live guys hey this is Ryan Kings line and I am just gonna get this kind of set up I am sitting here with Alex mandra Jeff that's correct you got it I'll speed it up do I swear my wife is Indian I swear she is you know I have lots of practice okay so give me one second guys to make sure everybody can hear me and and that you guys can all see me on the different social channels GoToWebinar you guys are live hey Maria hey Seth hey Brian so you guys have the quickest connection I'll be able to see what you guys are typing and posting quite quickly if you're on Facebook give me a quick note let me know that you can hear and see me there's about a 45 second delay so I will move on to YouTube YouTube we are it says live with Josh Herman I love life lovely maybe I should try to edit that will it let me edit and we'll kill all that okay all right good we're live there all right guys one second I'm just checking all of the different channels making sure you guys are all here and then we're gonna start this conversation because this is really exciting conversation one second I'm just checking make sure I'm not getting feedback in there okay except we're good Alex on all of our different screens awesome let's keep the chat open they're delays in YouTube Facebook and here me and GoToWebinar alright guys so this is a really exciting conversation for me and I hope for you and I'll explain why here in a second but I remember the first time that I was introduced to Alex through through Jared who runs a class over concept art workshop a creature and character class and Alex Jared's just an amazing teacher and one of our best I think and so he's bringing up Alex and you know all this stuff for for what Alex does and and then I'm looking at Alex's art station and I'm like is this guy a concept guy is he a painter like who does he rate book covers like I got lost for a bit and and then when I had the conversation with you Alex I was like wow it's like how'd you get into this industry and you know in the career that you have and what you do it's it's an incredibly fascinating so I'm telling you guys that up front so that you know right off the bat that this is a very interesting it's this is this industry concept there's a lot of people out there that are very public about what they do and concept in many ways is is is it's described as this like you you draw something so that somebody can build something so there's a very mechanical aspect to it and I like to say that there are two different types of concept artists there's explicit and there's implicit guys like Justin sweet but I'm telling you this to kind of frame this conversation because there's a whole nother level to this conversation that we're adding here in this conversation with Alex and that's important to me because at concept art workshop the goal is to kind of go that next level so it's not just drawing but drawing in 3d it's not just drawing but it's drawing this on and for this whole different purpose so without with that kind of frame let me introduce you guys to Alex Mondrian and and let's get this conversation started so thank you Alex thank you thank you for having me hey guys thanks for tuning in yeah I don't know where to start really it's it's been a long journey for me and let's start what you do now like what is it that you tell people you do know I I'm an illustrator and I I do keyframes for film mainly and the only recently I have started to branch out into television but it's been for film for the past several years and I love it it's I feel like it's my calling I sync with it I live and breathe film I I'm I try to watch something almost every other day in between work or when I'm taking a break I I watch documentaries on film making the the directors real that those type of behind the scenes not only not only watching the artists work but also analyzing it and seeing different breakdowns seeing different opinions and aside from the many brilliant instructors that have taught me my foundations and how to perceive and create the illusion of light on this digital two-dimensional surface well my my go-to routes are always the directors are always the cinematographers and those are my home sweet home mentors and so to speak so I could would you say your a concept artist or illustrator I can whatever I'm labeled as yeah that's I guess what I am in the clients I write I see myself as a artist is a as an illustrator I guess it's more I think it I feel more comfortable saying that concept artist is good too there's nothing wrong with that I guess I'm an illustrator I'm considered as an illustrator before illustrator I was concept artist maybe I ranked up maybe it's change I have no idea but yeah it's that's the strange one for me because I hear that a lot like what is what is the difference what is the difference between a concept artist and an illustrator or why are you called why are you why does it say cinematic illustrator what is the difference between that and personally I called myself that yeah if it if it rings well it rings well I don't care if it's if people are being judgemental on it it's just how I see myself I I like to do cinematic pieces but a tell story great so let me call me whatever you want just don't call me late for dinner is that the deal sure yes great so who's your client um and because this is the really interesting part for me like a concept artist might work at let's say Blizzard and they you know there's a million things to design and think about and work out but in in your particular career who is your client producers directors I've never had a conversation or feedback from a writer before but mainly a producer director and art directors someone like Ryan might add in over at Marvel alright yeah I that's that's my client that's the person who hires me that's the person who directs me okay Ryan I I don't know Ryan personally but Ryan strikes me as he's somebody who understands that term illustrator I think yes absolutely he's won himself and beyond the guy's a machine man so what is the product that you deliver and I and I'm kind of breaking it down in real simple terms like this for everybody and we're gonna get more layered in nuance but I wanted to know who the client was because it's not that you're necessarily just working for some company and you're producing designs but you work with the directors the art directors the producers so what is it that you have to give them well something that will in something that will help them either pitch their story or help them visually realize what they're looking for if they can't see it or perhaps they already have the vision they just need it they just needed very fleshed out they they want to see it [Music] they want to see it in front of them so they could be convinced so sometimes it's very handheld very art directed sometimes it's very blue sky and it's like my idea is it's about these astronauts and they're going through a wormhole how do we show that how can we how can we show that differently so now I'm starting to think about do i just show astronauts flying through a wormhole or maybe I can have something a little one layer deeper what's the story behind it where are they coming from do they this is one astronaut skinny the other one bigger I what why does that matter what's the color palette what's how is it lit how is it cropped how are we showing them in the frame and that's placing the viewer in the mind of the story in the mind of the character so for doing that that's I think that's important to a lot of my clients because it speaks to a language I think it's it's where they come from so in what I always force myself to do is speak their language in the method that I create I'm not a cinematographer I don't edit I've never made a film in my life but I want each image to me is as if I have already made this movie and it's a snapshot from it's a frame from the movie I made so that to me is an it's just a closer to them exactly feeling what I'm feeling exactly seeing it the way I'm seeing it because certain images could be very ambiguous and for clients who have never worked with me before I have to be more clear I can't be pushing the abstract pushing the feeling more I have to be very direct and it's simple and then slowly open up towards them and as they start to trust me more so so they could see what I'm capable of the deeper side mm-hmm that's a that's a great place to see if we can segue and do you have any example on spider-man 4 where something like that might have happened where you had to be more literal in the beginning and you had to and then you became more emotional or just it one that is more literal and one that is more emotional because I remember that one of the things that got me thinking is that I remember the beau Bartlett when I was talking the one that I thought looked like beau Bartlett you know there was a whole emotion that you you were conveying in there yes well if this is the the composition is is a little more abstract I'm definitely placing us below it's a more heroic shot yet spider-man is not using his web he's running out and he's running out in the foreground there's a toilet backpack and took a roll of tissue paper it's you're starting to ask yourself what he's running out of visit what is it a closet is an important party essentially this was an idea of him running out of a porta potty so that there's a cop maybe a comedy in this but this a lot of the spider ant-man images were really more about the action about the poses and it was probably required to be pretty pretty clear but I know I have certain images that go a little they stray away from that and some of them are for me exploring how moments are or it could be lit how we could see his suit in a very dark scenario how this how the red how the color composition will will strike us because this is red but then the blue you know it becomes one with the night and then there's the the lights from the from the car in the distance maybe this is a connection maybe this is his next move where he's headed towards that that's his calling and it's it seems ominous he's he's going he's going there for sure you can feel he's headed there and it feels like a darker frame it almost could be confused for a horror film maybe to a lot of viewers but um for example that is one this is maybe also a little more of an abstract composition for the shocker I wanted to introduce the Shocker character without showing his face but to show his weapon because to me that's what his character is the he is a shocker because of his violent power his violent device that he carries with him and I I'm inspired by different films specifically Goodfellas a thug a mobster getting out of a car and seeing the weight of the car and lifting up as he stands out of course the Shocker is not that heavy but I that's something that has stayed with me from for a long time and I wanted to translate that so I'm also here framing framing the the focal point not only through value but through color and the color again it's a very very vibrant and emotional resonation the red the framing in that red it's very hot you can definitely to me you can definitely feel that this thing will burn you it will shock you if he hits you with it if he projects whatever he projects out of his weapon so the composition without this figure in the middle maybe you will be able to read the door but because we have a relatable image in the center everything else sort of falls into place wouldn't really be able to get these these shapes if you were to take them out of context are very abstract but because of the figure in the middle it snaps together and I believe a lot of my work is is like that this is very abstract this to me the the feeling behind this is fear the fear of the unknown and I wanted to show the vulture without showing him it's just two dots for his eyes from the helmet but all we see is the wings kind of like a spider a spider's nest right don't really see the spider clearly but you see the front of legs you don't want to see the rest you don't want it to crawl out but you're curious you're you do want to torture yourself it's come you want to see it come out but you at the same time you're afraid so it's that type of playing with that type of emotion that type of lighting the anticipation of it all and how does a director or an art director producer use that image like how what's the because it's not designing something it's maybe describing a scene but how how do they use these kinds of evocative images a lot of the times it's used for lighting it's used for the this is how it should feel this is how it should look right that's this is the lighting it's its story elements as well no make sure we see the party on on the right side and we see the car on the left that's that's that's how we want it but the way you've lit it the wave that's perfect that's it feels like the street it feels like the location there's also that I'm handed a lot of location scouts so it's it that also comes into play and trying to maybe resemble this area this is the suburban or the or the ghetto alleyway or whatever it's it they use it I feel for for for mood for lighting and inspiration and then there's a whole different side to the team that designs and defines perhaps the sequential parts how like a storyboard artist or which by the way I hope I'm not jumping all over the place the storyboards a lot of times come first before these keyframes because it seems like your storyboard you're basically visually writing the story yes not for spider-man but I've had that opportunity in the past yeah for sure the script for example I didn't work on the matrix but from what I've heard the lobby shootout on the script yeah it's very simple neo and Trinity walk into the lobby and they have a shootout that's all it says it's something very simple I'm not quoting it exactly right but the Chomsky browser brothers probably visualize that with a story and they improvise this whole with well-paying they really created something epic that's memorable the same way I've had the opportunity in the past to create sequence of frames that inspired the writer to reverse-engineer the story into the script based on what my work projected to them so yeah storyboards a lot of times helped me as well that's great they want a specific frame yep and I take it and I just elaborate on top of it I try not to stray away or anything cool this might be a good time to bring in some questions now we'll open this up for Q&A more at the end part of this so don't sweat that you'll get a chance but I'm gonna pull if you're asking questions I'm gonna pull them in every now and then and keep in mind if you're watching this live it might compress some of the blacks in the images so make sure you go over to Alex's art station and in hopeful and that's actually one of the questions I want to kind of look and once we get into if we can get you into Photoshop because you're blacks the it's like the they're so subtle and that's a hard thing to make work man but but before we do that kalenna is asking would Alex recommend someone who's trying to get into the industry to go for keyframe concept if it's their passion or work more on traditional roles such as concept designer or artist I would say follow your passion do that the more you do that the more you massage that dream you get there equip yourself with all the knowledge and all the tools that you need that you need not that do you see that what you feel is right for you what you feel comfortable and you wield it again and again and again and create the work you want to do the work you want to be hired for I guess you could it's not a bad thing to climb up as well startings concept and this that's how I did it for example my first introduction into keyframes was Jared again he helped me get into a Aaron since company this was a long time ago and I was doing more visual effects deformed faces burnt bodies and zombies and the entire spectrum of that and I I'm not saying I invented this wheel or anything they said this type of work has existed for a long time before me or any of these behemoths that you see today creating amazing work I just had the idea because I wanted to show the these burnt bodies I wanted to show these zombies or whatever in a moment I think that could sell that could sell the pitch that because I see clients coming in and they're no certainly they're panicking and well maybe will this work will this work and they need the confidence so maybe if I show the frame that they're asking these creatures to be in they will feel safer they will feel more convinced that this movie will come to the reality I'm showing them so that was my personal take on it I never said that out loud how so I just gave that a shot before that even actually my very first take on it before I got hired officially interns I did storyboards very it was like a one night 80 frames sit-down insane stuff for something close around hey maybe it was 50 I don't know okay still and I want I loved telling the story I loved doing it on top of that it wasn't even digital it was on sticky notes and the yellow posted the horizontal widescreen looking things and and then when I got hired back on and I was hired not back on for a piece that somewhat resembled this it was a lady with there's just a portrait there was showing that I had the skills to photo bash to manipulate with Photoshop and get it to a near resolved state and I got hired on that basis but never on the work I am doing now this is sort of this bloomed this is work I did four edges tomorrow this is very loose work my start in keyframes this is done at aaron sims edge of tomorrow also live die repeat or something that with Tom Cruise and all you need is kill is the original name might I forgot that films I remember and this is as well but it's it's really compared to my more recent work this is very loose it's very painterly mmm-hmm but there's still I still try to get it to the photo texture II feel that I've been influenced by Craig Mullins by but just some adjustments work just a sweet anyway I made my own goal I mean I took my own initiative because I didn't want to do what I had already done in a game which his environment just straight-up multiplayer maps that was a great experience as well not disregarding any of this it's all very valuable but I also didn't want to do the gist effects it wasn't making me satisfied with what I'm what was pushing me I really wanted to just jump out of myself and do exactly this that's great and Kalina I think that more than answered right and that was great and I was gonna add to that you know one of the biggest failures in my experience has gotta be succeeding it's something you just don't care about because then you got to keep doing it yeah and doing it that's hard for for just money or doing it for just to be in the entertainment industry that's that that's you know honestly that's a start because you gotta realize when you're in the entertainment industry that's a privilege not everybody gets to do this and to be comfortable doing this for a living even if it's low pay at first that's that's a made man's job that's a king's living there's a lot of work out there and it's hard back-breaking stuff this to me is exhausting but it's gratifying it's mentally exhausting if anything you might lose sleep certain days but it you're doing exactly what you're doing something from your soul you probably work with [ __ ] certain times most of the times you work with very genuine creative people and that's that's a lucky privilege I've always felt that I don't complain about in this industry Hollywood or the game industry it's it's a to me it's a blessing I wouldn't want it any other way that's awesome here it's easy to hear a lot of the negativity especially if you're online in some places because you know it's it is hard and you know it can be brutal and somebody could get you know lay off because film is very hard that way yeah it is but it's great to hear that inspiration from you because you still have that love for it you know I can hear it in your voice yeah Mille of for film I I love actually taking on independent projects a lot of the time because it's I see maybe it's because I I want to make a movie one day but at the same time I always question myself I I don't I don't know if I will i I actually want to create content that resonates with my viewer that that strikes an emotion that's something they will remember yeah or come back to or think about yeah well that's a movie or a series of paintings in a gallery or work done for a movie that's fine with me that's that's beautiful yeah that's great we should have a gallery show we should here in Laguna Beach you just put these on canvas and then that and then we just jacked the price up and a good frame that's good absolutely yeah gold leaf goli flames all right let me check in with you guys real quick and then I want to take a quick I want make sure that you guys I want to make sure you guys see the range of Alex's work because it there's number one there's some there's an enormous amount of range but it's all this deep pathos and then if you don't mind Alex I'd love to get into Photoshop and start to explore what you were talking about which is just how you find stuff because one of the questions we had was you know what number one your color palette and then the other one was is how do you make something that's so abstract like that door with the guy coming out with the shocker like how do you make it even look like it's actually a door you know cuz it's so abstract right so I want to do that but let me take a quick look at this and see if there's any other questions that we want to push in this is the me this might be as a little off the side but let's try this so Ivan is asking what do you think is the best way to find clients for this type of work for keyframe for mood paintings you put your the way I've done it you put yourself out there and you and you make sure you're in in a good circle of friends people that could possibly recommend you people that know others but you put your work as I have and in the past with CGHUB and on my blog which hasn't been updated in a while but cghub and I mean the art station sorry our station is something I'm constantly updating as well as as Instagram nowadays but you're constantly putting this stuff out there it is noticed it is seen by people who care about it they people want to hire you [Music] that's one way that I know to really sell yourself you do work you do work that would be needed I believe and how do we discover what's needed because that's a great point right I mean you know you want to be valuable to people that's how you get hired and once you're in this industry we were talking about this earlier once you're in this industry you kind of know more about you know okay so if I do this I might be candidate for this job coming up this guy's working on this project but how do you how do people know now like if somebody's not here they're in let's say Wisconsin and they're they don't have too much of an option on circle of friends yet like how do they know what's valuable and what's useful well maybe you do work that reflects the world around you maybe you paint the modern life or what what inspires you things that you watch that's one way another one is if you are you go out and you for film if you if you watch a lot of movies you do work that revolves around that universe what's I guess what's trending now that seems like the cyberpunk is definitely coming back if not already back with ex machina ghost in the shell' Blade Runner coming out that stuff is growing and growing it's a very rich palette right now especially from that to Game of Thrones to musicals that are coming through as well how do you show that a lot more horror films are coming back into the palette that we are experiencing so I guess the best way really is to do what you haven't seen and what you want to see what what you'd like to see you you create work that you want the viewers to see in what you haven't seen yet I know that's probably hard to to explain but it will resonate that feeling that that soul that you put into your work will scream now that makes total sense to me because it's easy to feel like you don't have power because you know I have school and so I get emails every now and then like what do I do I'm here and you know nobody does concept art and you know this city or this place or they do ZBrush or something like that but what you're really talking about is look you know yeah it'd be great come to LA but all you're doing and correct me if I'm wrong is is you're making stories about stuff that you know you think is important and that can be done anywhere you know and so illustrate just get to the job of illustrating you know the things that are important to you and somebody's gonna see oh look this guy is illustrated this this is the this is his project so start thinking in terms of projects start thinking in terms of you know what the resources you have for yourself right now right one of the ways I would think about it is the the kik I get out of creating a series of pieces maybe I'm twisted in my head but I I do like creating dark work but it's probably because of how I grew up where it comes from so now you got me intrigued I need to understand I was born in a dungeon no I it's not a sob story or anything yeah but I my mother and father I'm an only child we leave Bulgaria Bulgarian by nationality and we moved to Germany and from Germany we come to America once we have the papers and green card and everything but that journey for a young developing mind was very intense and it was very happy to but I saw some very brutal stuff and experienced near brutal stuff and that it has a lot of juxtaposition to the happiness so oh boy first second grade I don't know first grader brain is awake to everything it's it's a it's a it's a road of very rich very real experiences that has that I love to visualize in my work that I'd love to sort of put into my work whether it's to just color or whether it's through actual storytelling them for example being on my site right now I don't drag this on too long but this is piece I did a while back sorry I don't know why it's taking so long it's uh it's this is a car this is contrast I'm trying to show someone relaxing the foreground and the background something violent is happening to me a lot of the times that was my life I was safe at home but I would turn on the television or I'd look out my window and something was anticipated or is something terrible is happening so that to me is life so that to me is you driving through the safari with your friends and you see a lion me eating a zebra to me that is Wow somebody's calling sorry to me that is the big thing that excites me and the same thing that disturbs me and I want to love sharing that with the people like my work and it's I'm lucky that I got I get hired on that I'm lucky that people can see that I guess and relate to it and and and feel the same way I feel right what else sorry yeah that's great so let's look at want to look at one more piece of work and this might be you know it might be a little controversial so you guys tell me what you think I don't mind getting corrected but there was an image of a guy in a doorway nude for the most part and and then somebody there's a person below him but it's just it's all Brent yeah you can know what you're talking about it's in the middle like forth over and I think it's just up a couple more calling a couple more rows yep there you go am I so stay there right there and it's three three rows down four columns over three rows down four columns over it's the guy oh yes I'm sorry yeah that's exactly what I'm looking for I I know what you're talking about this I looked at this and I I didn't get the the I got mixed signals and then I was like I had this weird disturbed feeling I was like this I don't understand what's going on I didn't know how to react and this was what really got me thinking it's like you know that's the thing that got me thinking like how did this guy get in here like Alex get into this concept world when I can't tell this is a painting or if there's a concept or what because it's just so emotive I mean there's so much packed into this I to me this is a thank you I mean I'm glad it says that to her and nothing else really it to me this is about feeling claustrophobic feeling sheltered feeling not sheltered not feeling trapped I'm sorry feeling closed off quarantined and I also don't I'm I don't like I don't like I don't think anybody does it's but I don't like rape I don't like intense sexual violence and it's something that maybe I've had too many friends that have experienced that in the past and when I was growing up through Germany I I have heard stories and lived on the spectators point of view as a child I didn't watch anything but you know I it's just something that I you know in the world that I grew up in so it's this is something that to me reflects there's reflection on the side of the wall there's something that's innocent and hopeless on the ground on her knees and the lighting this could feel like blood but to me this is lighting and there's someone who's gangly a noodle over body type someone who could you could break if you if you were face to face with them really over feeling like he's overpowering and the area his genital his his crotch is not very defined yet and he's wearing a mask and it feels bloody there's something something about that to me the sums up a lot of a lot of my nightmares a lot of fears not only that that I have that many other people share it's it's it's hard to look at like I actually want to ask you to just go back to your because that's all the lost everybody and as Frank was saying it's emotionally risky but the reason that I was kind of drawn to talk about that right here is because you know yeah let's say if it's blizzard games you're never going that depth but if you're working with somebody like Darren Aronofsky or you know some of these things like you know this is one of the powerful aspects of seminar cinema yeah yeah yeah absolutely getting there and getting people with you in a way like requiem for a dream I mean I can i I can't watch that there's parts of that that remind me my mom and I'm just like it's just it's not a watchable film for me right that's also where I pull a lot of my emotions from when I put it in these paintings is what whether you call it trauma or or just something that stays with you from films from a lot of funds it starts from John Carpenter and spans all the way to Stanley Kubrick Darren offski Paul Thomas Anderson also European directors like Michael Haneke a [Music] Japanese director Akira Kurosawa all the David Lynch and other great one those people have created works of art movies that that have influenced me and injected me with snippets if just moments not even the entire film just moments that stay with me and those that moment could be very different for everybody else that's also the beautiful thing that it's such a deep world you can pull inspiration from that it's almost endless it's infinite and there's so much out there men Hollywood is old and there's so much you can dive into and discover that's also what keeps me excited in this industry that's great to keep doing this work yeah all right let's segue and if you don't mind let's get ourselves into Photoshop I'm sure and Steve you know if you could show us a little bit because the a little bit about just how you search for and how you find these ideas or these forms really sure well I was talking earlier how I abstractly think about my reference you know I'm blowing it up quite large here but sometimes I find beauty in so but all the times I just yeah I just directly I don't care about what the photos saying I I'm okay okay I just I just wanted to use that as the under painting but maybe these flames they remain the way they are maybe I'll use this as it's a focal point so perhaps III I don't know what I'm doing right now but I'm my brain is automatically searching what this could be where what world am I in right now what am i jumping to where am i teleporting my mind am i staying in a modern world or am i going in a fantasy world I go into the future what type of story do I want to tell this is just gonna be something flashy something neat that's there's nothing wrong with that or is it do I want to say something deep do I want to create something that will make the viewer ask questions about what they're looking at so I am thinking about composition something that I will be you know going over more and more but it's yeah it's kind of like doodling on a more direct not this isn't a pencil sketch but it's the same idea and I see you switching between warm and cool still kind of very similar values but warm and cool to make a distinction yes yeah I'm aware of the color palette that's already I'm using what's here and going with it I'm adapting with it so oh I do like that this is creating you guys didn't lose audio just you know I'm just being no no I mean he went full-on artist brain so I didn't want to know you guys could ask questions I could try to talk that I do have somewhat of a trouble with that I I started losing my train of thought and I don't want to be rambling or saying [ __ ] but yeah right now I'm just trying to take us somewhere relatable so if I'm adding a figure in this or maybe multiple figures staring maybe now that I'm starting to think about the angle or we low to the ground is this maybe is there's foreground elements here that I could suggest that so and this is this could be a very quick comp composition loose rough that can be given to the client for an for the very first pass like I was thinking about this angle I was thinking about maybe that's how we see this moment of the moment where they look into the fire and see the future whatever it could be here too right yeah this is 12 1280 by 800 it's proportionate to the native resolution to my monitor I don't know why I chose that but that's where I got this res form and I don't think it really matters [Music] all right in a little bit we're gonna open this up for some key I'm gonna get some questions and guys feel free to start shouting out now and I'll start passing them in as he is a feint in a way Stefan any advice on getting the most out of dark tones in a painting the most dark tones I don't understand I guess what I could say about that is that I like to I like to group values a lot and let's say there was a there was a dark God dark object in the background here right this figure will still be here he'll still be in the foreground and I'll try and I'll make sure it it always stays like that but the most out of dark tones is the same ideas what I did here is grouping values so if if you're doing a really dark frame it's really training your eye on on how subtle how to simplify I hope you guys could still see this I went fullscreen I hope it's not is still there yes still here okay so this is dark tones and all I did was shift the slider so easy you'd have to plan this out in traditional medium but I'm consciously thinking about this I didn't just I didn't take it too far or too still left it to like I wanted it at this level because when you squint you your eyes what's popping out really Oh are these moments here so when I'm thinking about my dark tones it's about how I'm grouping everything it's it's how I'm gonna show contrast with that so it's it's a it's probably difficult to just explain but if I'm painting it here now maybe I could get to what I'm trying to say a lot of times it's not it's not always good to do dark images yeah just from a business from professional point of view I've had a lot of clients in the past tell me you're Marcus maybe too dark if you have lighter stuff and I'd ask him the dark mood-wise no no like your frame is dark you have really dark that means beautiful blah blah but it's it's dark do you have lighter key frames so I know that maybe only recently or in past couple years I've started to show a range but I guess I'm kinda just talking out loud here guys because I'm trying to find the reasons to why I love doing dark tones to answer that question what's what's the most you can get out of a dark tone contrast I guess it can really capture how maybe a lens could see how we how we could see through a lens at night will you see brilliant detail or is it just the areas of smoke and fire that's what's gonna pop out and we'll see silhouettes and why why is it being a little like this what is why why are we in a dark area so before you even question what's the most you can get out of the dark tones you ask yourself maybe why do you want to show it in the dark it's something good it's very it could be a very simple answer like it's this event is happening at night or all the fire moments are at night I mean it sounds simple but maybe it takes a lot to get to that simple answer so I love that all right let's take Aden is asking do you always dive straight in with color or do you ever start with value passes I like I like diving into color yeah usually for my personal work and a lot of times client work I just directly go into color but with Photoshop you can always check your values you could desaturate it yeah there's is with CC Photoshop CC there's these great this great tool here Camera Raw filter and you can just take it to your saturation now and you can even mess with exposure you can just see how oh oh yeah you could very quickly figure out where you'd like it to be this isn't the final of course but how you wanted to read the range maybe how saturated you want it mm-hmm the fire the flames they're more they've cooled off more into the pink or maybe I could leave it at this spot now it's no longer as dark no it's probably early morning if they are outside there's also temperature change but I'd like to you know these things I like to cover right off the bat to a very extreme or subtle point sometimes I do it at the very end as well sometimes I take the finalized image and I do that what I just did with that with the sliders and it does give a boost does help me come to the final point color Tamizh if I'm still learning how to control it completely confidently so a lot of time I'm exploring I'm searching with composition I do that as well but I feel like with composition I know exactly what I want exactly how I want to frame something so this is very simple but this is how I'm dividing the frame by using this character and sorry and then there's this angle in the back and there's character here as well I [Music] mean these the this is a way of framing maybe it's also the eyes or how I decide this early on how I want what do what do I want to be the focal point is he holding something see holding an orb or I don't know some something metal plate with geminate something reflective why is he holding why is that popping into my head right now I'm just I'm just thinking about guys I'm not really because this is it's not a planned out demo or anything but why am I thinking about a reflective surface being pointed at fire why am i maybe that's making me dive deeper into the story maybe that's this is what we're gonna see what's coming next so these heads this is an alignment of compositionally it's pointing us into this this smoke in the background although it's organic it's uncontrolled it's something that could be guiding our eye here through here the first read or the second read maybe this is the secondary the first read would be his helmet or his face so anyway from this point what I like to do is a lot of times I like to bash in photos elements of detail that will probably either stall my work or get it exactly to where I want it to be so by stalling basically what that's saying is I have no idea what's gonna come out yet my so it's cited on my yeah but maybe maybe there's something to this noise and detail it's so compressed that's so refined already there's so much nuance in the texture here that if I use it right it could bring a level of believability a little of reality to this image and you collapsed the image earlier right so do you work with layers a lot or do you try to work I collapse a lot it forces me to be bold forces me not to care at all not to be precise it's not about precision at this point mm-hmm I'm just starting off what brush are you using now is that it it's your painting it's the oh yes I'm gonna have a quick mask and I'm painting with light and dark to take it away or put it back in got it so right now in this case I'm not really it's not doing anything for me but what else what I do start thinking about is planes it's the simple forms what's the top plane side plane so I put it on mixer brush mainly because I like to still retain the textural brush these these moments here this weird edge accidents I like to smear those and still use that texture it creates that natural breakup and in the end which sometimes could look like film grain so I'm thinking about edges I'm thinking about how these forms could be lit and maybe the front of his design at the speed of thought frank says decided yeah you're familiar with the sergio leone's films what's that I'm sorry he's asking if you're familiar with Sergio Leone's films absolutely I love Serge Ilona seen everything he's made one of my favorites is American Once Upon a Time in America but however I fight that with Once Upon a Time in the West but yeah he's he's a great influence for me I love his graphic I don't remember who his cinematographer was but I love a cinematographer I know it's Sergio and it also had his eye as well but he did use somebody for that I also love John Carpenter Dean condi mainly from his from Halloween to the thing Christine all those really inspired me when I was young stayed with me actually I had nightmares about Michael Myers for a long time after I watched the television version of Halloween and was shut off like I shouldn't watch this it's not I want closure he just escaped you just got out of the asylum he's gonna kill people I need to see what happens so I couldn't sleep that's exactly my introduction so sorry I'm trying to get my detail and I think I'm noodling here but what's important to do is is to squint your eyes or blur your eyes and group these chaotic marks or whatever and ask yourself what is is good to have does it feel right and kind of balance it out make sure it's it stays the same as the soul that your sketch has your rough and if you can retain that quality throughout the entire process to the very end that's good I think that's just the way I think about it and how do you know when it's finished when the I believe when the moment the moments that you want to resonate with the viewer are clear enough and when everything else feels consistent if I was to render out or paste a photo of a guy's head here this directly this is a good example actually I did this recently let me see if I can this is this this image is done in a very similar way of what I'm doing right now except it's a little more bolder if I was to take that face here and just just leave it it's not going to it's just gonna stand out like a sore thumb so consistency is important treating everything in the same level even if you if you've treated well even if you did you know clean it up and make made it sit proportionally and then the lighting fits and everything it just doesn't snack and work it has to feel the way this feels and has to be treated so with actually with this piece I think I took an underpass of a bridge a freeway bridge or something I turned it on its side and I started to break into it and I and I used these elements these support beams here too as a wall I just started to see it abstract and I created a corridor and this figure here hurt her staring back at us that is just found person I didn't think about designing but I liked it's almost like you're casting a moment you're casting your actor for your shot yeah I I liked her stare I liked how they were looking back into us it's almost like they're looking into our soul so there's something to me about opening a door way for her to walk through or or creating this pathway like she's almost destined to go through but at the last moment she's looking at us there's there's something about the color palette that is in that moment that creates to me a feeling of dread or a feeling of nostalgia or like a memory like here this is a flashback to the viewer so with this this to me feels like in we are in the moment we're just we're in either in a fantasy or sci-fi world it's it's probably also because of the things we watch nowadays you know the way I feel about it it's probably because of Game of Thrones it's probably because of and it's it's very important to be aware of what's out there I believe in order to be in order to be a good creator of this type of work it's good to be aware of so you so you one don't end up creating something that's already been done and people call you out on it you know what the Internet's like and yeah so it could because that could lead to a lot of toxicity then you have to defend and stand your ground you don't want that or you could just not care anyway I'm renting well the second thing is is also it helps you it feels do you can sample from what's out there just sample from different places or sample a little and then put your part in it so anyway yeah go ahead all right so we may have lost some of the people on YouTube and Facebook so we will get back to you guys if you see me over here in the corner replying madly that's what I'm doing oh not you so okay so let's get some questions in and and Ali will be posting up if you're like me then you're already like just for this course because what in the span of I think 45 minutes you took a random photo and turned it in something totally different and and it yeah I mean it reads it's it's amazing it's fascinating seeing you go through that process so thank you I'm gonna get you guys all information on the course and everything like that as soon as we have it probably today as well as just a little email out for everybody who attended to make sure you guys have that but this is that concept art workshop comm and that's what the course is gonna be we're gonna have two options for you you can either be part of the live class or you can just get that on-demand and get the classes about 24-48 hours after the class goes so you get a delay there you don't get the same interaction or you get the interaction where alex is working with you on your work and helping you move the needle on your work every you know once a week every week for ten weeks I think right ten week class I think I think we spoke about eight but maybe ten no no it's actually all deal okay so we'll make sure it's eight tell me a little bit about the class and what you want to teach because you've taught this before but for those people who don't understand like what is it that we're gonna do in this course well I mean we want to be covering composition and telling a story through that but in in that I'll be going over mood again and how to achieve the mood you want and that's using lighting color edges and breaking down film visually sometimes it helps to watch how moments are edited together but a lot of times what's really important is is to see how we're placed in the scenario watching interest films and watching how he's placing the viewer and in the shot let's say from seven or Fight Club right we're in seven with rudl film very brutal film but but it's it's it's about taking what's already out there and in applying it to our work as well so that's that's really the essential part of it but it's also keeping in touch with the emotional side that the feeling what how you want the viewer to feel this isn't I wouldn't you know I mean you could categorize it as whatever you want but it's really that's to me that's what matters the most is the feeling that comes through looking at a piece you could definitely be effective more than enough in the industry doing great designs and there's feeling behind that as well it's just what I teach and what I like to show is mood through composition like I said lighting color composition and that's what I will be covering really and what that's what I'll be breaking down what's running black and white the color okay black and white the color and so what should they expect to get out of this one portfolio item multiple or what's the goal it's definitely multiple because if you have roughs and then one final piece that is multiple you have a final piece and then you have good roughs that led up to that good variations a variation doesn't mean just altering the color of the sky it means completely changing the angle completely seeing if if this is one way we're looking at the frame right now that I've done if this is one way we're gonna look at this shot this is a wide or can we be even wider to the frame maybe we're standing at it from a distance maybe it's this I'm checking to me that in another layer yeah I did but a lot of times they don't yeah so so maybe this is another way and why maybe it's about the isolation maybe it's the figures how am i dividing this plane how am i dividing the frame what's that sin what is the same yeah so if this is a sequential I already have my color palette set up if there and I'm sorry so if this is a cut-in if this is part of the movie that you're watching right this is the very first shot you see and then it cuts to this will it make sense if it's if it is a sequential if that it's also treating their variations as a sequential because you're still in the same world but you can treat it like cuts different takes different different angles so in a way you're kind of pretending to be a cinematographer you're pretending to be an editor as well great okay and then 2d or 3d or what did the what's the software or what are they gonna be using Photoshop special brushes or standard well I kind of have my own custom made brushes and other brushes that I've taken from a huge pile I could probably share this but it any brush will do whatever you're comfortable with the execution is about thought it's how well you think about its but it's not it's not about rushing or the brush is not gonna make your image better it's about how you its steps you take to clean up that edge it's the steps you take to design the silhouette of his hair or the the negative space between his arm and the shield or whatever so yeah no brushes it's it's gonna be very simple default or custom whatever you're comfortable with but it's all photoshop and it's it's painting but also photo bashing it's not entirely clean painting maybe the roughs are but from there on we're moving into [Music] applying photo getting it to that point that a lot of clients like to see that's that's the only reason why you can always do the painting person personal stuff for yourself and there's clients like Blizzard and Marvel and I guess riot that very much appreciate that type of work and also Naughty Dog but a lot of the times in freelance art in film and in TV they want to see quick turnarounds looking very believable so showing that maybe that's what I should have done for the demo I just couldn't I'm kind of improvising this so it's not what you did for the demo is amazing to just see this process unfold because the fluidity that you have with designing is just amazing and so I think that this was a really good keeping site into the course and into what to expect and and also and I imagine you know you have to work on the fly quite a lot yes yeah so absolutely you don't get a lot of choice so like Sean is asking do you use and gather reference and prepare yourself prior to starting the concept or you know jump in like you I think he constantly should be gathering reference even if you're not working you should constantly be feeling that Bank and then when it comes ready when it comes time you have that Bank so the reference part sometimes they give you reference sometimes you you spend a little time yeah and yeah and you collect reference so yeah by whichever whichever it happens to be okay all right guys let's do this Alex I just sent in the chat a little link to concept art works up to the page so if you don't mind clicking there and just showing the browser o2 in go to webinar they'll be like inside the little chat thing there'll be a link the chat thing I'm so sorry no worries oh there it is yes wish I had better words for it so you guys here have got the link to it we're gonna adjust this page and keep you updated on things on this page and if you scroll down if you're ready the the way to get into the course is right there with the two options we're going to add in another option for you guys where you get the on-demand access so head over to concept art workshop or head over here or wait until you get an email from me that's gonna have the link for it the enrollment is open all the information should be on the page you can also scroll to the bottom you get the FAQ and then if you're in the live class the live class has 30 days 32 day refund policy so the live class is gonna be limited because it's hands-on so if you're up for that then you just as soon as you get the link you need to sign up because these classes do fill up alright so if you have any questions about it don't hesitate to reach out to me and and connect and otherwise I'll make sure you guys have this link and you have the replay as soon as possible and Alex man thank you so much thank you so much it was a pleasure I could watch you do that like we should just live cast right into your studio and watch that Hey that was beautiful thank you all right guys thank you everybody for who came out and joined me and look for more information in your inbox soon and make sure you sign up for this course as soon as you get that link this is gonna be an amazing amazing course it's gonna walk you through and really build your painting chops so all right take care Thanks thank you guys thank you

Channel: Ryan Kingslien - Vertex School

Views: 8,107

Rating: 4.968504 out of 5

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Id: 3ZFCcgSWjb8

Length: 84min 9sec (5049 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 14 2017